I am pleased to host C. S. Boyack on today’s edition of Fantasy Authors Unplugged. He has a new book out named Yak Guy which I’m thoroughly enjoying. I turn it over to Craig.

Thanks for having me over today to talk about my newest book, The Yak Guy Project. This is an alternate world kind of story about a spoiled and dysfunctional young man who gets placed in an environment where nobody is going to put up with his crap.

As a fantasy author, I thought P.H. Might appreciate a small part of the world building in this story.

Part of the world building here is the warring factions. Yak Guy starts off in the wilderness, and has to pick up some basic survival skill, and fast. Fortunately, he has a guide in the form of a talking yak.

Once Yak Guy learns to take care of himself, the yak offers to take him to one faction or the other. The choice is his, but it’s irreversible.

He soon learns the people have been at war here for hundreds of years. Finding a way of portraying that was part of the fun in writing this story. They destroyed everything, and are back to fighting with spears and swords. Yet there is evidence of what they lost in the form of debris from ancient battlefields in the wilderness. He even finds one silk painting of a squadron of jet fighters still hanging in the home of the city’s most prominent person.

The population here is primarily Asian, but there are other races all over the place. This was my way of indicating that mass transportation existed before these people destroyed themselves.

I know languages started and localized based upon physical barriers, like mountain ranges and oceans. What would hundreds of years do to what used to be a common language? The opposing faction in this story speaks a language we can vaguely understand. It’s one of my hints that everyone used to be a common community here.

As part of his growth, Yak Guy is helped out by a friendly Hermit. This fellow speaks a language he can vaguely understand. He comes to realize that the little people are still people. Wars are waged on a higher level, and it’s the little people who pay.

There are many lessons ahead for Yak Guy, and it’s sprinkled with enough sword fights, predatory lions, and pretty girls to keep it interesting.

I hope I’ve convinced you to take this journey with my Yak Guy.

Blurb

Imagine waking up in the desert with no idea what happened to you. You have clear memories of situations and places, but a complete loss in personal matters… like your own name. This situation is bad, and you have no idea how to get home.

When you’re rescued by a talking yak, the situation gets exponentially worse. You’ve obviously lost your mind. The immediate needs of a ride off the salt pan and searing heat, along with a drink of water, outweigh the concerns about your mental state.

This is exactly what happened to the Yak Guy. In fact he’s been placed in an alternate world and given a chance to start over in life.

Can this selfish, almost parasitic, young man learn to start over in a world where charity is hard to find? Life is brutal and short here, but he’s going to have to adapt or perish.

The Yak Guy project is loosely based around The Fool’s Journey from the Tarot. Those with experience in Tarot will spot people and situations from the Major Arcana.

Reblogged this on Entertaining Stories and commented:
I’m over at fellow author, blogger, and Story Empire partner, P.H. Solomon’s blog today. The topic is a bit of the world building behind The Yak Guy Project. Stop over and say Hi.

A dearly-departed critique partner called it “white room syndrome” and he busted a lot of beginning authors on that one. (My sister is notorious for forgetting to ground the reader.) You did a great job. Very vivid.

I agree and think you have in regard to such details. Several books in you start writing that way from the start. I noticed a big change in my approach with the latest books. I’m asking what can be revealed about character, setting and so on when I begin.

It’s amazing when I look in the rear view mirror. It all seems like bits and pieces, but it makes a substantial improvement. Think of a simple rainstorm. Lisa might call it liquid sunshine, the yak would take it as nature and nothing more, Clovis might complain about it and say something vulgar.

I thought you did a fabulous job with the world-building in The Yak Guy, Project, Craig. It’s so crucial to a book, especially in the realm of fantasy or speculative fiction. Nice to see you here on P.H’s blog with your latest!

That would be tough to do. I have a perfect character to provide the Justice card (She’s blind), and meeting Death isn’t too bad, but after that it gets difficult. Tarot takes him into deity territory, and that isn’t quite what the story is about. Not impossible, but tough.

It’s also unique to the character. Knowing the character and setting well means weaving them together well. This one and Hat do that. But Yak Guy is distinctive for the situation. He’s perfectly disoriented by it all.

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